Mary Garden
Mary Garden (20 February 1874 – 3 January 1967) was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzosoprano with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her childhood and youth in the United States and eventually became an American citizen, although she lived in France for many years and eventually retired to Scotland, where she spent the last 30 years of her life and died. Described as "the Sarah Bernhardt of opera", Garden was an exceptional actress as well as a talented singer. She was particularly admired for her nuanced performances which employed interesting uses of vocal color. Possessing a beautiful lyric voice that had a wide vocal range and considerable amount of flexibility, Garden first arose to success in Paris during the first decade of the 20th century. She became the leading soprano at the Opéra-Comique; notably portraying roles in several world premieres, including Mélisande in Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (1902). She worked closely with Jules Massenet, in whose operas she excelled. Massenet notably wrote the title role in his opera Chérubin (1905) for her. In 1907, Oscar Hammerstein convinced Garden to join the Manhattan Opera House in New York where she became an immediate success. By 1910 she was a household name in America and Garden appeared in operas in several major American cities; including performing with the Boston Opera Company and the Philadelphia Opera Company. Between 1910 and 1932 Garden worked in several opera houses in Chicago. She first worked with the Chicago Grand Opera Company (1910–1913) and then joined the Chicago Opera Association in 1915, ultimately becoming the company's director in 1921. Although director for only one year, Garden was notably responsible for staging the world premiere of Sergei Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges before the company went bankrupt in 1922. Shortly thereafter she became the director of the Chicago Civic Opera where she commissioned the opera Camille by 28-year-old composer Hamilton Forrest. She sang roles at the Civic Opera until 1931, notably in several United States and world premieres. Additionally, Garden appeared in two silent films made by Samuel Goldwyn. After retiring from the opera stage in 1934, Garden worked as a talent scout for MGM. She also gave lectures and recitals, mostly on the life and works of Claude Debussy, until 1949. She retired to Scotland and in 1951 published a successful autobiography, Mary Garden's Story. Her voice is preserved on a number of recordings made for the Gramophone Company (including some with Debussy at the piano), Edison Records, Pathé, Columbia Records and the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1903 and 1929. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 28 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BVE-36731 | 10-in. | 10/25/1926 | At dawning (I love you) | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-36732 | 10-in. | 10/25/1926 | Annie Laurie | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-36733 | 10-in. | 10/25/1926 | Over the steppe | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | CVE-36734 | 12-in. | 10/25/1926 | Depuis le jour | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | CVE-36735 | 12-in. | 10/26/1926 | Dieu de grace | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-36753 | 10-in. | 11/3/1926 | My ship and I | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-37329 | 10-in. | 12/24/1926 | At parting | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-40733 | 10-in. | 11/22/1927 | Afton water | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-40734 | 10-in. | 11/22/1927 | Ma belle enfant, ne chante pas | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-40735 | 10-in. | 11/22/1927 | Somewhere a voice is calling | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | CVE-40736 | 12-in. | 11/23/1927 | Depuis le jour | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | CVE-48957 | 12-in. | 4/5/1929 | In the gloaming | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with organ | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | CVE-56801 | 12-in. | 11/7/1929 | Jock o' Hazeldean | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with organ | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-57524 | 10-in. | 11/4/1929 | Beau soir | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-57525 | 10-in. | 11/4/1929 | Clair de lune | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Victor | BVE-57526 | 10-in. | 11/5/1929 | En vain pour eviter | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 19886 | 10-in. | 5/17/1912 | John Anderson, my Jo | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 19887 | 10-in. | 5/17/1912 | Comin' thro' the rye | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 19888 | 10-in. | 5/17/1912 | Jock o' Hazeldean | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 19889 | 10-in. | 5/17/1912 | Annie Laurie | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 19890 | 10-in. | 5/18/1912 | Irish love song | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 19891 | 10-in. | 5/18/1912 | Blue bells of Scotland | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 30695 | 12-in. | 3/14/1911 | Quel est donc ce trouble charmant | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 30696 | 12-in. | 3/14/1911 | Sempre libera degg'io | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal | |
Columbia | 30699 | 12-in. | 3/21/1911 | Le jongleur de Notre Dame | Mary Garden | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | vocalist, soprano vocal |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Garden, Mary," accessed November 25, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102667.
Garden, Mary. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 25, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102667.
"Garden, Mary." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 25 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Mary Garden
Discogs: Mary Garden
Allmusic: Mary Garden
Grove: Mary Garden
IMDb: Mary Garden
Britannica: Mary Garden
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Garden, Mary, 1874-1967 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80010421
Wikidata: Mary Garden - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q242752
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/22228088
MusicBrainz: Mary Garden - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8ea2558a-9f30-4e9f-9f74-2068f3eb2c00
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